I
saw Teresa
Murray's story about Monk's
SF location shooting on the 17th.
I was in San Francisco on business
Thursday and Friday. My hotel
was just north of Union Square,
and on Thursday, I noticed a film
crew in Union Square. I
actually walked through the set
somewhere between 1 and 3pm, but
couldn't tell it was a Monk
site -- none of the show's stars
were on-site, and I guess they
may have been shooting extra filler
shots.

Thursday
night, I walked back from the
Embarcadero past Washington Square,
up Filbert to Coit Tower (past
the locations used in "Mr.
Monk and the Candidate"),
then down Kearney (including the
Peter Macchiarini Steps) almost
back to my hotel.

Friday
afternoon, I headed out Columbus,
but as I got up into North Beach,
I could see up Kearney where there
was a film crew. I had no idea
what they were shooting, but I
had time to kill, and my newish
digital SLR with a reasonable
zoom lens, so I decided to wait
it out. They were aimed up the
same stairs I had come down Thursday
night.

Next
thing I knew, down ran Traylor
Howard, followed by Tony Shalhoub,
followed by a stuntman on a Harley-Davidson.
I wasn't quite up to Broadway
for that take, so I set up on
the far corner and waited for
the next take.

There
I was with my trusty d70 and a
28-200, and a clear view of the
action. A few minutes later, Shalhoub
and Howard headed back up to the
alley from which they had appeared,
and I started shooting.

Looked
like the scene was Monk and Natalie
being chased out of the alley
and down the stairs. Part way
down, either Monk has to go back
for a step he's missed, or he
sees a clue and goes back to check
it out, which brings the motorcyclist
chasing them right past him.

Tony
Shalhoub and Traylor Howard
climbing back up to their marks
(in an alley up and right of
where they are) to set up for
another take.